The Vulgate: Gen. 1.8-1.10

And God called the plane the sky and the second day was made with evening and with morning.
But God said: Allow the waters, which are in one place under the sky, to assemble and allow the desert to appear.
And so it was done.
And God called the desert earth and the bodies of the water he named oceans.
And God saw that it was a good thing.

vocavitque Dues firmamentum caelum et factum est vespere et mane dies secundus dixit vero Deus congregentur aquae quae sub caelo sunt in locum unum et appereat arida factumque est ita et vocavit Deus aridam terram congregationesque aquarum appellavit maria et vidit Deus quod esset bonum

The Vulgate: Gen 1.1-1.7

At the beginning, God created the sky and the land.
But the land was senseless, hollow, and shadows lived over the void's face.
And the spirit of God was carried over the waters.
And God said: Light shall form.
And light was formed.
And God saw the light and that it was good.
And he separated the light from the shadows.
And he called the light Day, and he called the shadows Night.
So there was an evening and a morning.
Day one.
God also said: a plane shall form in the middle of the waters and it separated the waters from the waters.
And God formed the plane and it separated those waters from beneath the plane from those above. And so it was done.

In principio creavit Deus cælum et terram terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssi : et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas. Dixitque Deus : Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona : et divisit lucem a tenebris. Appellavitque lucem Diem, et tenebras Noctem : factumque est vespere et mane, dies unus. Dixit quoque Deus : Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum : et dividat aquas ab aquis. Et fecit Deus firmamentum, divisitque aquas, quæ erant sub firmamento, ab his, quæ erant super firmamentum. Et factum est ita. 

prima luce: at dawn

Englisc Songcraeft has focused my otherwise wandering attention span toward small but useful reflections on old literature.  But my poor website has been greatly impoverished by his creator's neglectful hand.  For a time, I even considered banishing the wretched thing into obscurity.  "DELETE" I used to chant, over its tearful screen.  There are reasons I cannot explain for retaining my frail and sorry website.  I will say that along the way it has provided some amusement, not always good spirited, to my friends and has sparked conversations that have, at least, helped me to reflect on the work.  From my wanderings and digressions, +grant robertson has found sufficient amusement for the both of us.

But if this website, this sad orphan, is going to remain, it needs to start doing its fair share around here; "earn its keep," as they say. So I have given it a goal, something to stay focused on and to work for.  Into the foreseeable future, Englisc Songcraeft will be dedicated to a new, and revised, english translation of Jerome's Vulgate (the NRETJV, if you will).  The desire is simple: a translation that is faithful to the original, but still graceful and, above all, enjoyable to read.  

For centuries after its production, the Vulgate captivated readers across languages and political boundaries.  But today, we encounter the Bible in one of two predominate contexts: 1) evangelically, that is, for spiritual or moral reasons, and 2) historically, in that we imagine and consider the circumstances of its origin.  Returning to Jerome will offer critical insight into the centuries following the fall of Rome and preceding the printing press. It was an era of immense change.  It saw the rise of the merchant class, the institutionalization of religion, and the birth of the nation state.  Latin remained the lingua franca for a millennium and the Vulgate stood at the core of the literary and cultural tradition.

I hope the project will be edifying for me, amusing to others and, if nothing else, interesting to read by a few.  I leave it up to the anonymous mass of the digital populace to render a verdict.